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Pretty Pictures

I will freely admit it’s taken me awhile to warm to streaming video sites, primarily because of the memory and bandwidth required to appropriately view most of the content. Until recently, it seems like I’ve always been just on the tail end of the curve on most technology. “Rich media” doesn’t play well on home computers cobbled together and frankensteined out of castoff parts and pieces. But with the accession of Hulu and Pandora, I’ve been unsuspectingly indulging in a streaming digital lifestyle. A few months ago Andy Gately of the AUFF tipped me to Vimeo and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the picture quality seems to be finally catching up to the technology that exists to carry it.

Nowhere was this more evident than when I stumbled onto the online reel of Cinematographer David Wexler, who I’m proud to say has shot two projects for me: the feature film Broken and the music video Clouds Cover Everything. In addition to a trailer for Broken and the full video for CCE, his Vimeo page has a sampling of some beautifully eye-grabbing work. He has a profound sense of color and light, which, honestly is to be expected; any professional DP that doesn’t belongs in another line of work. What sets Dave apart is unorthodoxy and willingness to experiment. I was thrilled when he proposed that fluorescent tubes and standard yellow bug lights be among the weapons in our arsenal of lights during the Broken shoot. They added a perfect blend of practical, motivated illumination and atmospheric discomfort.

While I respect the word as the structural building block of a good narrative, I can’t escape the unavoidable reality that I drifted into filmmaking as a way to make pictures. Wexler makes some of the best damn pictures I’ve ever seen, and they move.